World football governing body, FIFA, have upheld their laws and prevented Barcelona from registering summer signing Arda Turan, despite the long-term injury suffered by Rafinha last week.
Luis Enrique’s squad is already a little on the light side, but the anterior cruciate injury picked up by the midfielder against Roma means that he has even less options to choose from.
His selection worries are worsened by the transfer embargo that still hangs over the club, owing to irregularities in the signing of young players. As a result, Barcelona are not allowed to bring anyone into the club until January.
Nevertheless, that didn’t stop them agreeing the £24 million transfer of Turan from Atletico Madrid this summer. The Turkish international’s dream move to a club of Barcelona’s stature comes at the cost of waiting a few months before he can even step out onto the Nou Camp pitch.
But that didn’t stop the Catalan club attempting to overturn their transfer ban and allow the midfielder to play for them as emergency cover for the injured Rafinha.
According to Spanish newspaper SPORT – and relayed by the Daily Mirror – the five-time European Cup winners applied to their national football association (RFEF) for special dispensation to allow their latest transfer to finally make his debut for the club.
Amazingly, the Spanish FA gave permission for Turan to be registered as an official Barcelona player, before FIFA stepped in to kindly remind the club that they are still banned from signing players until the end of this calendar year.
That means that Enrique’s selection headaches will continue until after Christmas, when Turan and Aleix Vidal – plus any January signings – will finally be able to make their debuts for the famous club.